Brazil's Caixa may need 5 bln-real injection this year -newspaper

Redacción de Reuters

1 MIN. DE LECTURA

BRASILIA, July 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's state lender Caixa Econômica Federal may need a 5 billion-reais ($1.55 billion) cash injection from the government this year to cover a shortfall in the pension fund of its workers, Folha de S. Paulo newspaper said on Sunday.

The potential transfer is under discussion by bank executives and may need to be even larger as a steep recession boosts loan delinquency rates and hurts revenues, Folha reported, without saying how it obtained the information.

Spokespeople with Caixa and the Finance Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Caixa's recently appointed Chief Executive Gilberto Occhi last month said the bank would not need new capital from the government as it was seeking to sell a stake in its insurance, lottery and credit card businesses.